Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey

There are a lot of shows on TV that are fun, many that are educational and a number that are beautiful to look at, but it's rare for a show to have all of those qualities in abundance.

At least the first episode of the new Cosmos is terrific. And if the other 12 episodes are as good, the series will serve as a valuable continuation of Sagan's legacy.

The first hour, provided for preview, is spectacular even when seen without completed special effects.

It's a show that stands entirely on its own while never forgetting the series that inspired it.

Cosmos captures the imagination anew by celebrating imagination itself as an essential tool for a deeper, more truthful understanding of life. [7 Mar 2014, p.60]

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is science non-fiction at its most accessible and enjoyable.

Basic yet beautiful, Cosmos appears to be a winner.

Crafted to satisfy those generations of viewers for whom even "The Empire Strikes Back" looks quaint and old-fashioned, it is no less thought-provoking for being made to be fun.

The premiere episode nimbly balances information with visual spectacle, forging a middle ground between sci-fi and science fact.

This very first episode has so much information in it that the first 15 or so minutes seem like a study course and might prove slow to some folks as Tyson diligently starts explaining the solar system piece by piece. But Cosmos picks up with the help of executive producer Brannon Braga’s sci-fi touches and some early animation that follows the plight of Giordana Bruno.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is certainly trippy and visually dazzling, but it’s also a big-thought-provoking series crammed with scientific and historical fact. Hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, it is a transporting mass of CGI special effects and cartoon sequences, but it has the heft and scope of cable’s most esteemed science series, “Planet Earth” and “Life.”

It’s all done with brilliant imagery and crisp production that differs from Sagan’s primarily because the technology just keeps getting better.

The reboot, with only Episode 1 to go by, looks like a noble, educational and decidedly visual effort that can only be enhanced by the HD crystal clarity that Sagan never had a chance to behold.

It’s a 13-episode remake/update lovingly shepherded by Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, who worked on the original series, and hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a worthy heir to Sagan’s legacy, even if he doesn’t quite possess Sagan’s natural ability to captivate viewers.

The new Cosmos starts slowly and reverently enough: deGrasse Tyson, a warm, avuncular presence, standing on the same cliffs Sagan did, talking about the universe, our place in it, and preaching the gospel of the scientific method in a glossy episode, which, scientifically speaking, doesn’t advance much beyond middle school.

Sagan was on record as being agnostic, but he carved out a space within the 1980 Cosmos for believers as well, and some of his more oracular turns of phrase convinced many people of faith that he was, if not an ally, then at least not an adversary. This new Cosmos is not so easygoing.